Congressman Dave Brat (R-VA) is a big opponent of the Affordable Care Act, which is why he’s proposed one of the many substandard replacements for what can replace Obamacare when Congress repeals it, as he hopes it does. In the meantime, however, his constituents are rather concerned about losing their coverage, and he’s doing his best to ignore them.
“Since Obamacare and these issues have come up, the women are in my grill no matter where I go,” Brat told a meeting of conservative groups on Saturday. He explained that they’re always pestering him about when his next town hall will be — “and believe me, it’s not to give positive input.”
Video of that meeting was shared by a new Facebook group called 7th District Town Hall Meeting, which is dedicated solely to asking the question of when Brat will ever hold another town hall meeting. A post from last week notes, for example, “Funny how he has time for fundraisers and Facebook but cannot answer one simple question — when is the next Town Hall meeting?”
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One of the reasons Brat is avoiding his constituents is because he’s convinced himself that they’re paid activists. “I had one woman on my Facebook say she was going to get up in my grill,” he told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, using the same line as he did at the meeting. “There’s paid protesters…paid activists on the far left, not my Democratic friends I go to church with. They’re being paid to go around and raise havoc.”
Brat didn’t offer any context as to who he thinks is paying these protesters, nor did he seem to acknowledge that they are his actual constituents. Perhaps incredulous that there’s such energy opposing their ideas, conservatives are increasingly claiming that liberal protesters must be paid.
Residents of Virginia’s 7th District are right to be concerned about what Brat will do with their health care. His Obamacare alternative is a bill that creates health savings accounts, a plan that will primarily benefit the rich and do little to help people with major medical expenses they cannot afford.
Unfortunately, it will be months before constituents can voice their concerns to Brat in person. He announced on Facebook Monday that he won’t be holding any town halls until after “our first 100 days agenda is implemented and we come up for a breath of air.” By then, Congress may have already repealed the Affordable Care Act and it’ll be too late for the many Virginians worried about losing their coverage.